Tilting arc device



Aug. 6, 1963 Filed May 51, 1961 E. C. SCHMIDT TILTING ARC DEVICE 3Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

EDWARD C. SCHMIDT BY WM 7M MQW,

ATTORNEYS 6, 1963 E. c. SCHMIDT 3,100,123

TILTING ARC DEVICE Filed May 51, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. EDWARDc. SCHMIDT BY W W ATTORNEYS E. C. SCHMIDT TILTING ARC DEVICE 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 6, 1963 Filed May 51, 1961 INVENTOR.

EDWARD C. SCHMIDT United States Patent Unite 3,100,123 TILTING ARCDEVICE Edward C. Schmidt, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Edward L. PucelFiled May 31, 1961, Ser. No. 113,730 1 Claim. (Cl. 294-103) My inventionrelates to tilting are devices used for supporting and tiltingcontainers such as drums, boxes, and other receptacles. My invention isof the class described in United States Patent No. 2,399,360.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved tilting deviceeificient in operation and safe in use.

Another object is to provide a novel structure and arrangement of partsin a tilting device which produces a unique and important result.

Another object is to provide a useful actuating mechanism for a tiltingdevice and load carried thereby with a minimum of effort and a maximumof safety.

Other objects, and a fuller understanding of my invention, may be had byreferring to the following description and claim taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view in elevation of the improved form of myinvention, and showing a drum clamped thereto in an upright position;

FIGURE 2 is a view somewhat similar to that of FIGURE 1 and showing mydevice and the drum carried thereby in a tilted or a dischargingposition.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view showing the detail of the trolley andactuating mechanism incorporated in my device;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view partially in section of the arcuate railincorporated in my device;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged detailed view looking in the direction of thearrows 5-5 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged detailed view of my device looking in thedirection of arrows 66 of FIGURE 1.

With reference to the several views of the drawings, my device has anarcuate rail 11 made up of rail portions 19 and 20 disposed close toeach other, but with a space 21 therebetween. The rail portions 19 and20 making up the arcuate rail 11 are in the form of an are or segment ofa circle generated around a center indicated by reference character inFIGURE 1.

The two parallel rail portions 19 and 20 are joined at spaced intervalsby the U-shaped members 22. At the one end of the rail 11, the U-shapedmember joining the portions 19 and 20 is somewhat longer and has beendenoted by reference character 22a.

A boom member 12 is disposed radially inward of the curve of the rail 11and in a plane transversing the curve of the rail as illustrated in thedrawings. The boom member 12 is connected at its upper end to a U-shapedmember 22 at that point and is supported and braced in rigid positionrelative to the rail 11 by means of brace members 15, 16, 17, and 18,which in turn are connected at their outer ends to U-shaped members 22and the U-shaped member 22a at the upper end of the rail 11.

To provide ready means for grasping the rail 11, there is provided ahandle 23 which extends outwardly from the portion 20 near the bottomthereof. Secured to the rail 11 adjacent to the bottom end, as seen inFIGURE 1 is an anchor piece 24 and threadably secured to the 3 ,100,123Patented Aug. 6, 1963 anchor piece 24 is an anchor bolt 25. Secured tothe opposite end of the rail 11, that is near its upper end, seen inFIGURE 1, is an anchor piece 26 and secured to the anchor piece 26 is ananchor bolt 27.

My device, in its preferred form, includes a sprocketchain 28, which hasa plurality of links formed thereon with rollers mounted on the crosspieces. Such a sprocket chain is commonly referred to as a bicycle chainand is so adapted to be enmeshed with the teeth of a sprocket wheel orgear. One end of the sprocket chain 28, that is the lowermost end shownin FIGURE 1, is firmly secured to the anchor piece 24 by means of theanchor bolt 25. The opposite end of the sprocket chain 28, that is theend near the upper end of the arc 11 shown in FIGURE 1, is firmlysecured to the anchor piece 26 by means of the anchor bolt 27. Thesprocket chain 28 is generally of the same length as the rail 11 alongits length around the curve thereto. As the anchor sprocket chain 28 issecured only at its opposite ends to rail 11 it rests upon the threeU-shaped members 22 intermediate of the ends of the rail 11. Thus, asseen in the drawings the weight of the chain 28 tends to make itdisposed in a series of chords to the arc of the rail 11 between itspoints of support thereon.

A drum or container 14 which it is desired to raise and tilt for dumpingthe contents thereof is secured to my device by means of a clampingmechanism attached to the member 12.

Secured to the bottom end of its position shown in FIGURE Standing upfrom the bottom piece 30 is an arcuate portion 31 which fits within thechime 14a of the drum 14 at the lower end thereof. The fit of theportion 31 with the chime 14a is such as to firmly hold the drum 14against lateral displacement relative to the boom member 12. The bottompiece 30 is secured to the boom member 12, which is square in crosssection, by a boltand-nut assembly 32 whereby the bottom piece 30 issecurely anchored in position. The detail of the construction of thebottom piece 30 is illustrated in FIGURE 6.

A rod 39 is secured by a mounting 40 to the bottom piece 30 in such amanner that the rod 30 extends upwardly therefrom. The upper portion ofthe rod 39 is threaded. Aligned with the bottom piece 30, at anelevation above the same, is a top piece 33. The top piece 33 has anupright portion 33a which butts against and slidably engages the boommember 12. The boom mem ber 12 has a longitudinal slot 35 extendingtherealong and bolts 36 and 36a extend through the portion 33a andthrough the elongated slot 35. The two bolts 36 and 36a are spaced apartlongitudinally of the portion 33a and both are slidably mounted withinthe slot 35 to move within limits therein. A plate 37 is secured by nutson the ends of the respective bolts 36 and 36a in such manner that theplate 37 slides upwardly and downwardly along the boom member 12 withthe bolts 36 and 36a and hence with the top member 33 secured to thebolts 36 and 36a.

The inner edge portion 34 of the top piece 33 is in arcuate form andextends downwardly to fit within the chime 14b. At the upper end of thedrum 14, the top piece 33 is moved downwardly to the positionillustrated in FIGURE 1, for example, with the portion 34 disposedadjacent the inner surface of the chime 14b so as to hold the boommember 12, in 1, is a bottom piece 30.

the drum 14 against lateral movement relative to the boom member 12. Across brace piece 38 secured to the boom member 12 and the rod 39provides means for maintaining the rod 39 upright and parallel to theboom member 12.

A threaded member 41 is threadably secured to the threaded upper end ofthe rod 39 in such manner that rotation of the member 41 moves themember 41 along the rod 39. Extending in wing-like fashion from thethread member 41 are handles 42 provided for ready turning of thethreaded member 41. It is seen that the top piece 33 is slidableupwardly and downwardly along the boom member 12 relative to the bottompiece 30'. Upon raising the top piece 33 so as to insert the portion 34inwardly of the drum 14 adjacent to the chime 14b andthe portion 31adjacent the chime 14a as illustrated in FIGURE 1, the drum 1 4 isconfined between parts 30 and 33 and held against displacement. Byturning the threaded member 41 downwardly to the position shown inFIGURE l then the top piece 33 is held against sliding upwardly and thedrum is firmly locked in position.

Extending outwardly from the top piece 33 and in the same arcuate shapeas the portion 34 are side extensions 44. Threadably engaged in eachside extension 44 is a bolt 45 having a crank handle 46 at its endremote from the drum 14. By turning the handles 46, the bolts 45 may 'beturned against the side of the drum 14 and thus to firmly clamp the drum14 in position, that is to hold the chime 14b against the portion 34.

The structure of the trolley carrier '13 is better illustrated in FIGURE3. The carrier 13 includes a block portion 48 made up of spaced plateswelded to filler Iblocks and portions 49 and S3. The tongue portion 49welded to the block 48 extends downwardly to within the space 21 betweenthe rail portions 19 and 20. As seen in the drawings, there are twopairs of trolley rollers carried by the tongue 49 by means of shafts 50extending through the tongue 49 at spaced locations. One pair of trolleyrollers 51 and 51a is on one shaft 50 and another pair of trolleyrollers 52 and 52a is mounted on another shaft 50 carried by the tongue49. The two pairs of rollers engage the under surface of the railportions 19 and 20 and are confined between the downwardly extendingflanges thereto. The rollers are rotatably mounted on the respectiveshafts so that the rollers give rolling support to the rail 11. In otherwords, the arcuate rail 11 may move along the are or curve of itsformation while supported on the two pairs of rollers which in turn arecarried by the trolley carrier.

The portion 53 welded to block 48 extends upwardly therefrom and an eye54 is secured to the upwardly ex tending portion 53 by means of a bolt55. As seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, the eye or shackle 54 is hung on a hook56 which in turn is secured to a chain 57. Chain 57 is suspended from ahoist (not shown). Thus the trolley carrier 13 is hung in a verticalreference line from a hoist or other suitable support.

A sprocket wheel or toothed gear 59 is journalled on the block 48, bymeans of a shaft 61 extending through aligned openings in the block 48.The sprocket wheel 59 is held by a nut-and-bolt assembly 60 extendingthrough the hub portion 59a of the sprocket wheel and through the shaft61 so as to provide non-rotative engagement of the sprocket wheel 59 andthe shaft 61.

An actuating wheel 62 of the toothed variety is secured on andlinalignment with the shaft 61 by means of set crews 63 intereng-aging thehub portion 621: of the wheel 62 and the shaft 61. The actuating wheel62 has a plurality of equidistantly spaced teeth 62b extending aroundits peripheral circumference and protruding radially therefrom. Theteeth 62b interenga-ge with links of an endless chain 68 in such mannerthat pulling on the chain 68 on one side rotates the Wheel 62 in onedirection, and upon pulling the chain 68 on the other side, operates thewheel 62 in the opposite direction.

A stub shaft 64 carried by the wheel 62 extends axially therefromopposite from the hub portion 62a, journalled upon the stub shaft 64 isa collar 65 and extending downwardly from the collar 65 is a bifurcatedarm 66. The ends of the two lower portions of the arm 66 carry ringguides 67 and 67a in such manner that the chain 68 is slidably guidedWithin the respective guides 67 and 67a. The arm 66 on the collar '65 byweight of gravity is free to swing relative to the stub shaft 64 in suchmanner that one of the guides 67 or 67a guides the chain on that side ofwhich is pulled by the operator to rotate the wheel 62.

By means of the construction illustrated and described, it is seen thatwith a drum 14 in upstanding position the tilting device may be readilysecured thereto by clamping the drum 14 between the parts 30 and 33.Thereafter by operating the hoist to which the chain 57 is connected,the tilting device with drum secured thereto maybe raised to an elevatedposition above the floor or ground surface. As the chain '68 isrelatively long, the lower end thereof is preferably within the reach ofthe operator standing on the floor or ground surface. After the til-tingdevice and drum secured thereof is raised and moved by the hoist to theposition where it is desired to dump or discharge the contents of thedrum 14, the chain 68 is pulled on one side, that is on the right sideillustrated in FIGURE 1 so as to rotate the wheel 62. The rotation ofthe wheel 62 in turn rotates the sprocket wheel 59 which by reason ofits enmeshment with the sprocket chain 28 moves the rail 11 along itsarcuate length relative to the suspended trolley so that the trolley bypulling upon the chain 28 moves along the rail 11 to the positionillustrated in FIGURE 2. Here the trolley is located at the opposite endof the rail 11 and the drum secured to the tilting device is tilted [toan angle so as to discharge the contents of the drum -14 through theopening 14c of the drum. As the exact amount of the tilting desired maybe readily attained by manipulating the chain 68, the desired degree ofdumping or discharging of the contents of the drum 14 may be readilyobtained. When it is desired to tilt the drum 14 back toward itsoriginal upright position, then the other side of the chain, that is thechain on the lefthand side in FIGURE 2, may be pulled so as to rotatethe wheel 62 in the opposite direction. Continued rotation of the Wheel62 causes the sprocket wheel 59 enmeshed with the chain 28 to pull therail 11 along relative to the trolley and hence ultimately back to therelative position of the parts illustrated in FIGURE 1.

It is seen from the foregoing that a convenient and safe means isprovided for raising a container such as a drum, for transporting thesame to a desired location and for safely tilting the container at anyrequired angle for a pouring or discharging of the contents from thecontainer.

The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims,as well as that of (the foregoing description.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

What is claimed is:

A tilting arc device comprising an arcuate rail, holding means carriedby the arcuate rail for holding a container within the curve of the railat an angle to the vertical in accordance with the tilt of the railrelative to the vertical, said rail having spaced 'arcua-te portions andinterconnecting portions connecting said arcuate portions at intervalstherealong and radially inward of the curve of 5 the arcuate rail, atrolley carrier movable along the arcuate rail and operable to supportthe same upon suspension of the carrier in a vertical reference line,said carrier having rollers rollingly engaging and supporting the saidarcuate portions radially inwardly thereof for providin rolling supportthereof, the carrier having a block portion disposed radially outward ofthe arcuate rail and tongue portions extending therefrom between saidarcuate portions of the rail and connected to said rollers forsupporting the same, a sprocket Wheel journalled on said block portionof the carrier, a sprocket-chain having its ends anchored adjacent theopposite ends of said rail and enmeshed with said sprocket Wheel, saidchain being disposed to extend betWeen said spaced arcuate portions andlimited in radial inward movement by said inter- 15 connecting portions,and a rotative member carried by said block portions and operativelyengaging said sprocket 6 Wheel for rotating said sprocket wheel inselected alternate directions, the rotation of the sprocket wheelpulling on said chain to tilt the arcuate rail and a container held bythe holding means relative to the vertical in accordance with thedirection of rotation of the sprocket Wheel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,399,360 Lacey Apr. 30, 1946 2,630,931 Douglas Mar. 10, 1953 2,913,276Collings Nov. 17, 1959 2,945,608 Beler July 19, 11960 2,945,609 Benes eta1 July 19, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 845,685 Great Britain Aug. 24, 1960847,410 Great Britain Sept. 7, 1960

